Job Description

I am delighted to announce that I am recruiting for a worldwide, market leading, agricultural company in the Kings Lynn area. My client is looking for a Trainee Trials Officer, who is an enthusiastic and driven individual to join their ever growing team, responsible for establishing, managing, assessing and harvesting a range of laboratory, greenhouse and field trials and finally reporting the results.

This role would be ideal for a recent graduate looking to take their first career step into to a rewarding and innovative job role. This role provides the potential to progress their career within the Trials Team.

Required Skills and Qualifications
" Educated to degree level in agriculture or biological sciences.
" Numerate and PC literate including spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint and digital photography. Good understanding of scientific method and experimental statistics.
" Able to design trial protocols from scratch and to carry out and report on trials in line with good experimental practice and good laboratory practice.
" Pesticide application certificates and the operation of other specialised equipment will be required for the job, but full training can be provided where necessary.
" Candidates should be IT literate with good communication skills, and able to work on their own initiative and as part of a team when required.
" Full driving licence.


Responsibilities & Duties
" Arranging materials and equipment for field trials, including travelling, purchasing and collecting samples, growing media, pots and trays, greenhouse sundries etc.
" Carrying out Biolab and greenhouse trials projects, e.g. Mung Bean Lab Bioassay (21-day continuous experiment); planting and monitoring greenhouse experiments including daily watering 7 days a week (typically 4-8 weeks duration); general lab experiments such as formulation testing (typically 2-3 days each)
" Laboratory analysis of produce sent into the lab, e.g. plant measurements, nutrient content, Brix, firmness, shelf life testing
" Communication with sales force and customers to locate potential trials sites
" Planning, setting up, marking out, mapping and recording trial site locations
" Communication with growers and contractors to ensure correct site locations, coordination with field operations, planned trial harvest dates
" Application of treatments to all OMEX small plot trials including fertiliser and pesticide preparation and application with hand-held equipment, complying with all relevant legislation and health & safety procedures
" Supervising and recording large scale treatment applications by growers and contractors
" Weekly monitoring and recording of crop development data in all field trials, e.g. emergence date, growth stage, canopy measurement, NDVI measurement, plant counts, disease assessments, sample collection, camera and drone photography
" Organising harvest digs and sample collection ahead of grower's own planned harvest. Includes heavy lifting (>25 kg) of root crop trials, hand harvesting cereals, safe operation of cutting and topping tools.
" Processing of harvested samples, e.g. riddling counting and measuring potatoes, threshing cereals, measuring moisture, dry matter, bushel weight, skin finish, disease levels etc.
" Arranging with third parties for sample testing, e.g. protein content.
" Organising and presenting raw trials data in a report or spreadsheet for submission to Trials Manager for final report preparation.
" Giving guided tours of the Biolab and greenhouse to staff and visitors on request, including prepared presentations and being able to answer questions raised.


Job Type: Permanent

Hours - Monday to Friday

Salary: £19,000 - £22,000

Please call Ryan on 01522 528115 for more information or apply online